Month: May 2017

Coleslaw is almost a requirement at any barbecue. It’s a delightful blend of creaminess and crunch, of sweet and acidity. You can chop the cabbage and carrots from scratch or from a pre-made bag, and as long as you get the dressing right, it will be a hit that compliments just about any main dish you pull off of the fire.

The Saint Brian’s Burger was what started it all. In 2014, I was feeling like Saint Brian’s BBQ wasn’t going to get off of the ground in the face of all of the hurdles that exist in starting a food-based business. My wife’s uncle, Ira Gutman, owned a hot dog joint in Cherry Hill called Coll Dog Cafe where they served up deep fried gourmet, all-beef hot dogs with all sorts of toppings. He graciously offered up his kitchen for making the sauce, and made a “Saint Brian’s Burger” special that featured the rub and the sauce.

The Cool Dog isn’t there any more (Ira has since opened the Moondog Grille in the Moorestown Mall), and I’ve moved on to a professional kitchen, but the Saint Brian’s Burger is a classic that will never go away.

Combine the ground beef and Dash Cunning Spice Rub in a bowl, and mix with your hands. Either cook right away, or seal and refrigerate overnight.

Form the burgers. When forming them, create a divot in the middle of one side. This will prevent the burger from ballooning up into a meatball shape, and also give you an indication for when it is time to flip it.

Preheat your grill to high according to the manufacturer instructions. When heated, you should only be able to hold your open palm 2-3 inches from the surface for 2 seconds.

Oil the grill grates.

Place the burgers over direct heat, divot side up, and cook for about 5 minutes. When you see blood droplets form on the divot, and the burger releases easily from the grate with a spatula, it's time to flip. Flip the burger and cook for another 4-5 minutes. In the last 2 minutes add the cheese slices and toast the buns. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

The Saint Brian’s Breakfast Barbecue Burger is an amazing way to start a weekend of fiery cooking revelry.

Set the scene: you’ve organized a weekend campout/cookout for your friends. The sun has peaked over the horizon, night’s cool still hangs in the air, the morning mists cling to the ground. As your guests awake and emerge, the grill is already fired up and you’ve started breakfast, it’s alluring aroma mixing with coffee brewing on the fire. Beef, sausage, avocado, egg…it’s everything you need and nothing you don’t.

The key to this dish is preparing all of the ingredients (mise en place) prior to firing up the grill. As a secondary point, being gentle with the eggs will allow for the yolks to run out all over the burger at the first bite and will really tie all of the ingredients together.

While you can use white cheddar in this recipe, it will be well-worth it to use raclette.

Mix the beef, sausage, and spice rub in a bowl. You will need to take care to break up the sausage so that it is evenly mixed throughout.

Form the mixture into 2 patties, gently. Don't overwork the meat, or else you'll end up making meatloaf. Use your thumb to put a small divot in the middle of the top side of the patty. This will prevent it from puffing up and turning into a meatball, and will help alert you as to when to flip it.

Put the burger patties on a screaming hot, oiled grill.

If you have a side burner, start cooking your bacon. You can also do this ahead of time so you can concentrate on the burger itself.

When you start to see blood droplets forming on top of the burger, it's time to flip them, about 5 minutes. The burger will release easily from the grill. If you really have to work a spatula under there, it means it's not time yet.

With about 2 minutes left (you should cook the burgers about 5 minutes per side), toast the buns and melt the cheese on the burgers.

Fry the egg in the same pan that you cooked the bacon. There should be enough grease in there to cook the egg white all of the way through without having to flip it and risk breaking the yolk. Cooking time: 1 minute on the heat, 1 minute off.

Using a chimney starter, light natural lump charcoal. Do not use briquettes or match light!

Put a layer of unlit lump charcoal at least 2" thick in your fire pit. Make sure that the pit is free of debris.

When the coals in the chimney starter are lit and have turned white, carefully pour them over the unlit coals in the fire pit.

Steak Prep

Sprinkle the Saint Brian's Dash Cunning Spice Rub on all sides of the steak and gently pat on. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Allow to dry marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours.

Cooking

Remove the plastic wrap and place the steak directly on the burning coals. Cook on one side for about 5 minutes.

Using a pair of long tongs, lift the steak off of the coals, and shake any loose embers off by tapping the tongs on the side of the fire pit. Flip the steak and cook on the other side for 4-5 minutes to desired doneness.

Remove the steak from the coals, tapping in the same manner as before to remove any loose coals. Using a clean, dry brush (an unused paint brush or a basting brush will work) brush off any ash. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Pulled pork is a staple of smoking, and something you definitely need to have in your tool box. You can either serve the finished product straight up, in a sandwich, a taco, mix it in a salad…the options are nearly endless.

While you can use a picnic shoulder for this, I prefer Boston butt. It has a better fat-to-meat ratio, which yields pork that’s easier to pull and just melts in your mouth.

The key to this is maintaining a relatively steady temperature in your smoker. It’s also important that you leave the pork in the smoker long enough. This will be about 12 hours out of your day if you’re going low and slow, which is the best way to smoke it.

Pro Tip: At a certain point, around the 160 degree range, you will hit the “stall”. The internal temperature will continually rise until it hits this point, at which time it will slow to a crawl, and may even stop for a while. Leave it alone. I repeat: don’t touch it. Leave it alone. Don’t jack up the heat. Don’t reposition the pork. Don’t call your guests and cancel the barbecue. Just relax, be patient, and once the evaporative cooling has finished, the temperature will begin to climb to 195 again. Here is a good explanation for what is happening.

Shortcut: if you can’t dedicate 12 hours to maintaining your fire, you can cheat a little bit. After the first few hours, you won’t be able to get any more smoke on the meat (the smoke will have penetrated the meat as much as it will), so it’s just about maintaining a cooking temperature until the internal temperature hits 195 degrees. After the first few hours, you can transfer the pork to a oven preheated to 250 degrees and finish it in there.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap (double wrap or place inside a resealable plastic bag to prevent leaks in your refrigerator) and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably for up to 8 hours.

Cooking

Fire up your smoker according to the manufacturer instructions. Preheat to 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the pork in an aluminum cooking tray to catch all of the drippings.

Place the Boston Butt in the smoker.

Keeping the smoker temperature between 225-250 degrees, smoke the pork until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees, replenishing the wood chips/chunks every 20-30 minutes for the first 3 hours.

Remove the pork from the smoker. Tent loosely with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 45 minutes.

Serving

Skip the forks or claws; dig in with your hands. Nitrile gloves will make this easier, as this will be a greasy process. Grab a handful of the meat, pull it off the shoulder, and then hand pull it into another tray or bowl.

If you are serving the pork right away and don't anticipate any leftovers, before placing the pulled pork into the second tray, dip it quickly into the juice in the original cooking vessel. If you know the pork will sit a little while, or anticipate leftovers, once the pork has been pulled pour some of the juice over the pork to help keep it moist.

Have barbecue sauces, such as Saint Brian's Original Barbecue Sauce, or Saint Brian's Sweet Victory Barbecue Sauce, set out so people can add whichever they want. If you want to go for a Carolina taste, have some straight apple cider vinegar out for dipping.

Using a meat thermometer or table knife, work your tool under the silver skin on the bone side of the rack and remove the membrane. (See link below for the instructional video on how to do this.)

Apply the spice rub to both sides and edges of the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Smoker/Grill Prep

Start your smoker according to the manufacturer instructions. Preheat to 225-250 degrees F

(If using a gas grill) Set up your grill for indirect heating and preheat to 225 degrees. If your grill has a smoke box, insert wood medium according to manufacturer instructions. If your grill does not have this feature, see the link below for creating your own smoke box.

Cooking

Using a rib rack, position the ribs vertically with the bone side up in the smoker.

If you have a water/liquid tray in the smoker, make sure to keep it filled with either water, beer, or cider. If you're smoker or grill doesn't have this, every 30-40 minutes spray the ribs with a mixture of water and cider vinegar to keep them from drying out.

Maintain a temperature in the smoker between 225-250 degrees F for about 4 hours. You will know the ribs are done when the meat recedes from the bone about 1/4". Internal temperature will be at least 165 (probably higher, and that's OK). Another test is the "break" test. Pick up the ribs in the middle with a pair of tongs. The ribs should droop and almost break apart under their own weight.

Allow the ribs to rest for 20 minutes, then cut them into 3 rib servings. Serve with Saint Brian's Barbecue sauce on the side for dipping.

Alternative Finish

When you have 30-40 minutes remaining on the ribs, brush on a thin layer of Saint Brian's Barbecue Sauce every 5 minutes. (Note: don't put the sauce on too early, as the sugars will burn.)

Baby back ribs are, with close competition from Boston Butt, the kings of barbecue. They are crowd pleasers, a staple of both backyard barbecues and competition pit masters, and absolutely delicious. With the proper preparation and a little patience, they are also deceptively easy.

Before you dive into the recipe below, check out these two videos on how to properly select rack of baby back ribs and on how to properly prepare them before putting them on the smoker.

Print Recipe

Saint Brian's Baby Back Ribs

Succulent, fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs that will please any crowd.

Using a meat thermometer or table knife, work your tool under the silver skin on the bone side of the rack and remove the membrane. (See link below for the instructional video on how to do this.)

Apply the spice rub to both sides and edges of the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Smoker/Grill Prep

Start your smoker according to the manufacturer instructions. Preheat to 225-250 degrees F

(If using a gas grill) Set up your grill for indirect heating and preheat to 225 degrees. If your grill has a smoke box, insert wood medium according to manufacturer instructions. If your grill does not have this feature, see the link below for creating your own smoke box.

Cooking

Using a rib rack, position the ribs vertically with the bone side up in the smoker.

If you have a water/liquid tray in the smoker, make sure to keep it filled with either water, beer, or cider. If you're smoker or grill doesn't have this, every 30-40 minutes spray the ribs with a mixture of water and cider vinegar to keep them from drying out.

Maintain a temperature in the smoker between 225-250 degrees F for about 4 hours. You will know the ribs are done when the meat recedes from the bone about 1/4". Internal temperature will be at least 165 (probably higher, and that's OK). Another test is the "break" test. Pick up the ribs in the middle with a pair of tongs. The ribs should droop and almost break apart under their own weight.

Allow the ribs to rest for 20 minutes, then cut them into 3 rib servings. Serve with Saint Brian's Barbecue sauce on the side for dipping.

Alternative Finish

When you have 30-40 minutes remaining on the ribs, brush on a thin layer of Saint Brian's Barbecue Sauce every 5 minutes. (Note: don't put the sauce on too early, as the sugars will burn.)

I had this idea a few months ago…just popped into my head. I thought a ravioli stuffed with pork belly would be awesome.

The idea percolated over the next couple of weeks: it would need acid and savory flavors to balance the saltiness of the pork belly. So maybe some cheese, and an apple vinaigrette dressing.

I finally pulled the trigger today to see if my idea would work.

It started with a trip to Reading Terminal Market. I stopped by Martin’s for the pork belly, and Downtown Cheese to get some advice on which cheese I should use. I can’t recommend these guys enough, they are super knowledgeable and seem genuinely happy to share that knowledge. Definitely stop by there when you get a chance.

Once that was wrapped up, I made the pasta for the ravioli from scratch and let it dry a bit.

Once everything was ready to go, I filled the ravioli, battered them in buttermilk (actually I added a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of 2% milk and created buttermilk), dredged them in breadcrumbs, and fried them in olive oil. The sound of them frying away was very satisfying.